Tale of a Tail
by Mugetsu Ookamiza
Summary: tails can speak volumes about the emotions and thoughts of those they belong to.   story 1: Shiemi stops over while Rin is alone and he convinces her he was just getting ready to make a snack and asks her if she wants some, chaos ensues.
1. Tale 1: A Kitchen Tail

**Tale of a Tail  
><strong>_Tale 1: A Kitchen Tail_

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><p>Rin walked towards the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, Shiemi trailing behind him watching his tail sway side to side happily. Right now he felt like one of the luckiest guys in the world, who would have thought Shiemi would have come to deliver stuff for his brother on the exact day he suddenly got called out to help get rid of some demons? Sure, it felt like it was going to be hellish stuck in the dorm alone, but a ray of light had pierced the clouds as Shiemi arrived there.<p>

And better yet when he'd sputtered that he was just getting ready to make something to eat and asked her if she wanted some too she'd both believed that, despite all the awkward stuttering, and said she'd LOVE to. LOVE TO! It seemed almost too good to be true.

"So, Rin, what were you planning on making?" she asked as they neared the kitchen.

"I.. um... I... you'll see! I'm sure you'll like it!" he managed to blurt out and then smiled. He didn't really have much of an idea, but he was sure once he started looking at what they had in the kitchen he could fake that he knew exactly what he was going to make from the beginning. By the way she grinned and nodded her head excitedly, as if she was already imagining how good whatever it was would taste, he knew she believed him.

As they entered the kitchen he looked about quickly and walked to the fridge, trying to look like he was purposely looking for certain things as he tried to come up with an idea. As he saw several items he suddenly grinned widely, face hidden by the door, and grabbed them, then went to a couple cupboards and pulled out some other ingredients and a pan, then went to a drawer and pulled out a couple spatulas.

"What is all that for?" Shiemi asked excitedly.

"It's going to be a surprise, remember?" he grinned, his tail starting to wag again as she managed to look slightly pouty and excitedly anxious at the same time. Boy he was glad that four-eyed brother of his wasn't around to see her being this cute!

He merrily busied himself cooking up his surprise, his tail wagging in time to the nameless tune he'd started humming as she waited patently. After a while he turned the stove down a little bit, just enough so it wouldn't heat up the surprise dish too fast, and set a timer.

"In a couple minutes I'll have to turn it and then shortly after that we can eat!" he smiled, sitting down near her.

"I can't wait!" she beamed. "Your food always tastes so wonderful, Rin!"

"What can I say," he blushed. "It's my talent!"

In short time the ding of the timer sounded and he stood up and walked over to look and see how it was doing. "Okay!" he said and as he moved to get the spatula he noticed Shiemi had gotten up too and was standing beside him.

"Is there anything you need, Rin?" she asked, wanting to be helpful and be able to eat whatever it was as soon as possible. It smelled delicious!

"Sure, hand me that spatula over there so I can flip this now."

"Um... this one?" she asked, and hearing the uncertainty in her voice he turned to check... and found her far closer to him than he'd expected with the very spatula he'd wanted her to get almost right in his face.

"GYAH!" he squeaked, stepping back suddenly enough his balance. Dropping the spatula suddenly she reached out to try to help him, but instead she was knocked off balance as well. As he fell back and his hind end bumped the stove his tail flew up and hit the handle of the pan, the combination of those two things sending it in the air heading right towards them.

The very thought of the hot pan and it's contents hitting Shiemi was something that set him into motion and he grabbed her, putting himself between her and the wayward pan, and flipped his tail as hard as he could at the flying frying pan.

As he held her she felt him wince as he let out a sudden squeak. She pulled back and looked at him and could clearly see the pain on his face. "Rin! Are you okay?" She looked at him and noticed his tail, it had clearly hit the pain dead on, and the hot pan and its contents had clearly burned it.

"Yeah... I'm okay..." he managed to say as close to normally as possible. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Rin, over by the sink right now!" Shiemi ordered, narrowing her eyes at him for asking about how she was doing when he was obviously hurt. "You have to run cold water over a burn as soon as possible, and then you have to put the proper medicine on it and bandage it up!"

He thought about arguing with her for a moment, but held back as he saw the look on his face. With a sigh he walked obediently over to the sink like she had demanded and was getting ready to place his tail under the faucet she'd already turned on when he felt her gently grab his tail, very gently rubbing the fur on it against the grain to help the water get down past it. He started blushing a bit and bit his lip to keep himself from saying anything and focused on the intent and caring look on her face as she was treating his burn. He didn't have the heart to tell her because of his demonic nature this would heal on its own no problem, but then the cold water on it and her ministrations didn't feel that bad...

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed the water was off and she wasn't handling his tail anymore. "Eh?"

"Rin? Do you have any gauze around here?" she asked.

"Yeah, Yukio insists we keep a proper first aid kit above the sink, altho it's not like I need it... usually, anyway..." he answered. It had been long enough since he'd had an accident while cooking he thought he'd never really need that first aid kit, but perhaps that was just overconfidence... in fact, it probably was and also was most likely what lead him to get his tail burned.

As she set the kit down on the table and opened it she beckoned him over again. "Come here, I'll have Nii give me stuff for your burns and wrap it up."

Again that stubborn side of him wanted to argue, but again that serious and cute look on her face caused him to obediently listen to her and set himself down next to her. Again he found himself biting his lip as she worked whatever it was past the singed fur of his tail. He wasn't sure about that kind of stuff it was, and the fact she had all those weird names for plans didn't make knowing what it was any easier – even if he did think that was a kind of cute quirk of her's, although he'd never share that thought aloud.

He waited as patiently as he could as she finished that then worked on wrapping up the burnt part of his tail. He was secretly pleased that he managed to keep his impatient fidgeting to a minimum and down enough it didn't bother her.

As she finished by taping down the end of the gauze she looked at him intently, absently stroking the fur on an uninjured section of his tail – she'd noticed it was pretty soft while tending to it – and spoke up. "You have to take better care of your tail, Rin! You know it's sensitive!"

"Uh, y... yeah... I... I'll remember that... next time..." he stammered. It was amazing how something that innocent and delicate could at times seem more like a force of nature with how intense she could get. He was pretty sure this whole thing had his face cherry red by now.

And it was at that very moment Yukio walked into the kitchen. "Brother?" he called out, then noticed Rin sitting there next to Shiemi with an almost luminous blush on his face, and saw her hastily drop the tail she was holding and her face start to sport a blush that match Rin's.

He adjusted his glasses carefully and asked, "What... is going on here?"

The two both started stuttering embarrassedly, but finally Rin managed to get something that actually made some sense out. "I was... just... uh... just thinking of making something to eat. Some sandwiches, yeah!" he looked over at Shiemi and whispered, "Sandwiches sound safe enough, don't they?"

"Y... yeah!" she agreed with a huge nod.

"SANDWICHES!" they exclaimed together.

"Make me one too," Yukio said, thinking he didn't really want to know the whole story if this is how they were acting. "I expect by the time I get all my stuff put away you'll have time to make sandwiches for all three of us."

As he walked out the two giggled nervously together as they set to work on the – SAFE – sandwiches.

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><p><strong><em>notes:<em>**

when I set about writing this I had only intended to write a little drabble based on a little question that came to mind (namely, wondering if Rin has ever had any kitchen accidents involving his tail). I figured on adding in some Rin and Shiemi interaction because I adore those two together, they make for such great awkward WAFF moments. as you can see, it kind of took on a life of its own and became a full fic. I'm not complaining, tho. as I still have no beta reader I would greatly enjoy some input on this piece, but even if you don't comment I hope you really enjoyed this.


	2. Tale 2: A Studytime Tail

**Tale of a Tail**  
><em>Tale 2: A Studytime Tail<em>

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><p>Well, Tale of a Tail was originally supposed to be just a drabble, then morphed into a longer fic, and now I've come up with an idea that adds even more to it. This will have at least one more chapter after this one because one of my little plot ideas is better off not being revealed quite so soon. I've still not been able to pester any of my friends into beta reading my Blue Exorcist fanfics so if you see anything that could be improved I'd love to know.<p>

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><p>Rin hated it when Yukio had to go out on a mission. He was kept on a short enough leash when Yukio was around that it was frustrating enough as it was, but when Yukio was out on a mission and he couldn't work out a way to tag along that short leash became short enough he felt he may as well be under house arrest. Since he was the type who thrived on being physically active this kind of situation drove him batty.<p>

His attempts to study and train had both fallen flat, as his forced confinement in his dorm made him stir crazy enough he couldn't focus one bit. His inability to even pass the time that way just made him feel even more irritable than he was already. He sat down at the window and glowered at the world outside his dorm, wishing he just had a little more freedom.

"Rin! Hey, Rin!" The sound of someone calling to him from down below jarred him out of his moping.

"Shiemi!" he called back down, sticking his head out the window to get a better look at her while she waved at him enthusiastically. "What brings you over here?"

"Well, I was having a little trouble studying and thought maybe it would be easier with some company," she said, smiling and showing off the study materials she'd carried along with her. "And I thought maybe if you needed some help studying some stuff I could try to give you a hand, too."

"S... sure!" he called down to her. "Come right on in, I'll meet you partway in!" Pulling his head back in he glanced around the room quickly to make sure nothing embarrassing was lying about he quickly tucked a few things into various places to get them out of view then ran down to meet her. He could hardly believe his luck, this being the second time in a row that he got left behind while his younger twin was called out on a mission that he'd get to spend time with Shiemi!

Rin rushed down the hallway barely managing to skid to a stop before running into her. "Hey," he greeted with a slightly awkward smile and a hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Let me carry that stuff for you the rest of the way, it's probably a little heavy..."

"Thanks," she smiled as he took them from her, blushing a bit as their hands touched for a moment in the process. His hint of a blush deepened a bit as well, and as he turned quickly trying to hide it his tail started swishing happily through the air. She covered her mouth to hide the slightest little giggle at the sight of that.

"So," Rin started awkwardly, trying to fill the silence as they walked back to the room he shared with his twin. "What... eh... what parts were you having trouble with?"

"I've been trying to memorize the proper names for various plants," she answered with a sigh. " And it's not going so well. It just doesn't make sense to me, none of those names seem to fit them properly."

Rin smiled slightly, still facing away from her, his tail wagging slightly more than it was. She was the only person he'd known who could come up with the oddest names for plants yet still find their normal names as odd as everyone found her names for them. Not that he'd even met anyone else who did that, but he imagined they wouldn't make the kind of adorably baffled and frustrated face he could imagine she was making behind him right now while fretting over trying to get their proper names down. In fact, he was sure it was physically impossible.

"Well," she said, bringing his thoughts back into focus. "I've made up some flash cards and hopefully those will do me some good!"

He could almost hear her grinning with hopeful enthusiasm behind him and looked over his shoulder for a moment to catch a quick glimpse of it. He really wanted to say something helpful, but he really couldn't think of any good advice, it wasn't like he was any good at studying. He decided to say the first encouraging thing that came to mind, "Don't worry, you'll probably get them down long before I do."

They stopped by the door to the room and he pushed it open and waved her in, putting her books and stuff on the table in front of the windows. He pulled out one chair for her and sat down on the other, staring at the pile of books he had to study from.

"Rin," she said suddenly, grabbing one of his hands. "If we study my flash cards together maybe we can both get that stuff memorized!"

His tail shot out straight behind him and his eyes widened at the sudden suggestion. He really wanted to focus on the kind of stuff he thought would likely be the most use to him – not that he really was sure what all that stuff was – but looking at the large grin on her face and knowing how much she really wanted to be helpful he really didn't have the heart to tell her no.

"Uh... okay..." he said with a smile of chagrin and his tail curling one way then the other nervously.

Letting go of his hand she got out one of the flash card sets, her huge grin never leaving her face. "Here! I'll use this set to quiz you with what each plant is good for, then you can use the other to quiz me on the proper names!"

The time seemed to go on forever while they were studying with those flash cards and Rin alternately felt like his brain was trying to melt or burst as the litany of names and uses continued, but he kept at it stubbornly. His tail, which had been held high with determination at first slowly lowered as the time passed and his frustration grew and focus faded. Now and then it would make a swift swish of irritation when he messed up something or a slight wag when Shiemi grinned triumphantly when she remembered the proper name for this or that plant or if he himself got something right, but all in all it was falling as steadily as his ability to concentrate.

Just a little before it had lowered enough to brush the ground Shiemi yawned. "Why don't we work on some other stuff now?" she suggested. "We both have other subjects to work on as well and it won't do if we focus too much on just one."

Rin stretched, his tail going straight out behind him as he did so. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He'd have rather just stopped studying all together, but he could tell Shiemi was still totally gung-ho about her whole study time for two idea and didn't want to let her down, so he grabbed a book with a sigh.

Shiemi also grabbed a book from her pile and with a look of determination she set about trying to get down as much of its contents as possible. She was so focused that she wasn't even sure how long she'd been studying when a sudden noise next to her startled her, almost causing her to drop the book she'd been holding. Quickly looking over to the side she saw Rin with his head on the open book in front of him with his eyes closed and heard him let out another snore. She couldn't help but giggle softly at the sight, his expression so unguarded as he snoozed away she couldn't help but find it adorable.

She looked around the room for a moment and walked over to the bed she assumed was his – after all, she doubted Yukio would leave his bed in such a messy state – and picked up a small throw blanket that was bunched up at one end. Carefully walking back over to where Rin snoozed she put it around his shoulders then prepared to move to gather her study materials together but was stopped by Rin's tail curling around her legs as he slept. Slowly she reached down to gently move it so that she was free. He made a soft noise as she freed herself from it and she thought she may have disturbed him, but then he let out another soft snore and his tail lazily started wagging side to side.

With a smile she gathered up her stuff and carefully exited the room and started back home. She really hoped she had been able to be at least a little help to her friend this day. As she exited the dorm Rin was still sleeping, but mumbling something about sage, cleansing, cuts, and burns in his sleep, with a slightly annoyed expression appearing on his face before he started snoring again.


	3. Tale 3: A Celebratory Tail

**Tale of a Tail**  
><em>Tale 3: A Celebratory Tail<em>

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><p><strong>notes<strong>:  
><em>And it turns out chapter 3 still isn't the right spot to end this. Ah, well... I'm having fun writing this (and hopefully you all are having fun reading this) so it's all good. Again, no beta reader still, so I'd positively ADORE some input on this.<em>

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><p>Rin stared at the paper in front of him, completely incredulous at the score he saw on his test. Sure, he was sure his score wasn't the highest in the class by far, but it was enough higher than what he'd been averaging he started grinning as soon as he picked his jaw off the floor and his tail wouldn't stop moving.<p>

Sitting next to him Shiemi watched with a smile. "Rin, how'd you do on this test?" she asked.

"Just look!" he beamed, sliding the test paper over to her.

"Wow!" she said, noticing the fact that the score was much better than some of his other tests, with scores in the single digit range. "Those flashcards must have payed off!"

His grin suddenly turned very slightly wary and his tail slowed slightly. "Yeah..." He hated to admit it, but they probably HAD been why he did better this time and he worried about some of what those bothersome things actually working may entail. "Uh... how'd you do?"

"Just look," she smiled, handing him her test.

"Wow, looks like they helped you, too. You got a lot of those plant names right this time!"

"Yeah," she beamed. "I'll have to make flashcards for more stuff if they work this well. Oh! And we can study with them together again!" She clapped her hands together enthusiastically as she voiced the idea, her grin widening even more.

Rin's tail flagged a bit in the face of her enthusiasm, but he managed to smile back somehow. "Sure..." Rin's tail rose again as he got his own idea about what they deserved for their good test scores, something MUCH better than more tedious studying. He almost couldn't keep his mouth shut, but he knew it would be better if he didn't say anything for now...

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><p>Shiemi thought it odd the next day when she saw a poorly concealed bag with something in it on the floor by Rin as she came in to her classes the next day. She noticed his tail squirming through the air far more than was normal for him, too. She didn't even need to look around to know that more than one of their classmates were finding its near constant erratic movements more that a little distracting.<p>

"Rin?" she asked carefully. It was obvious to anyone something was up with him, especially with that tail and the grin that kept trying to sneak onto his face giving him away.

"Eh?" he responded, somehow managing, for the moment at least, to appear the very face of innocence.

Sitting down she smiled and sighed, "Nothing..."

He started muttering under his breath just soft enough she couldn't make out what he was saying then attempted and succeeded, for a short while, to remain reasonably composed, holding his tail unnaturally still and stuff behind him until he couldn't hold back anymore and it started fidgeting behind him yet again. It was clear to the girl that somehow sometime today something interesting was going to happen... even if it was just him antagonizing a certain classmate to violence with his inability to keep perfectly composed in class.

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><p>Shiemi had been slightly surprised when at the beginning of a break between their exorcism classes Rin had asked her to follow him out to the fountain with a wide grin and a slight blush and his face and a happily wagging tail behind him. The moment she said okay he'd grabbed that mysterious bag and headed out in such a hurry he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. She could tell he was trying not to go too fast for her sake, but he was still in such a hurry she was slightly out of breath by the time they got there.<p>

She was still catching her breath as he sat the bag next to him and reached inside pulling out two boxes. "I thought since we did so well on that last test we deserved a little treat," he told her, a grin still on his face and his tail still moving behind as he handed one of the boxes to her.

She took the box and blushed slightly. "I probably wouldn't have done so well if you hadn't helped me..."

"And my scores wouldn't have gone up so much without your help. I never would have thought to use flashcards, you know," he interrupted, neglecting to mention he never really wanted to think of using them and that he found them annoying. But for her sake, and the fact they actually DID appear to have helped, he'd put up with them. _Especially_ if it meant more excuses to come up with treats for the two of them after getting better grades.

Shiemi nodded and started to open the box. Rin sat by watching her, not even bothering to open his yet, he wanted to see the look on her face when she opened it. With it finally open she saw a small selection of sweet snacks inside. "Oh, this all looks so good!" she exclaimed.

He laughed slightly, "Now try one, it's the taste that's the most important you know!"

She looked at the various snacks in the box and picked one up, putting it into her mouth carefully and ate it, obviously savoring the flavor. "They taste even better than they look!" she told him excitedly, grinning as she decided which one to eat next

He grinned wide enough at that compliment that anyone who didn't know him well would more than likely be unnerved by his fang-filled grin while his tail made wide swishes behind him. He watched her put another one in her mouth and blushed slightly as her face showed just how much she was enjoying the taste of them. He took a moment to hastily open the other box and start eating his share, he had to admit he'd done a damn good job cooking this batch of snacks up.

As he ate he only paid partial attention to the snacks before him, half of his attention on watching Shiemi enjoy her share out of the corner of his eye. Definitely, he decided, this was worth putting up with studying, flashcards, and all those types of boring things he'd typically rather avoid.

"That was wonderful! Thanks, Rin!" she said after finishing her last bite.

He smiled, looking at her beaming face, "It's just a little treat for us both for doing so well and a little thank you for you helping me study..." He paused and leaned slightly closer to her. "Uh, you've got some of it on your chin."

She blushed and rubbed her chin embarrassedly. "Is it gone now?"

"Still there," he told her, watching her try yet again. "You missed it again," he told her before she could even ask again.

With another valiant effort she tried again, certain she'd get it this time. "Now?"

He sighed and shook his head, "Let me give it a try." He quickly rubbed his hand against his pants to clean the crumbs off then leaned towards her, tail intently still behind him, brushing the offending bit of food away with his fingers. "There, now it's gone."

He leaned back and looked at her, noticing how red faced she'd become and wondered at that reaction for a moment before realizing what caused it. In less than a heartbeat his face was blushing just as red and his tail was swaying anxiously behind him.

"We," Shiemi started, trying not to stutter. "We should be getting back to class now..."

"Eh, yeah... it's probably about time for that now," he agreed.

Even by the time they made it back to class, barely in time, they were still blushing enough most of their classmates looked at them oddly. They were quite grateful of the fact there wasn't enough time for anyone to ask questions about it and Rin found himself looking forward to their next study session far more than he thought he would EVER be looking forward to studying.


	4. Tale 4: A Happy Tail

**Tale of a Tail**  
><em>Tale 4:<em>_ A Happy Tail_

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><p>Several weeks passed, Yukio had been impressed at the improvement his older twin had been making in his grades. Seeing Shiemi get more and more consistent on using the proper names of plants was impressive, too, and it made grading her work a lot less of a hassle. He knew she was smart enough, but he also knew she had her own way of looking at things which occasionally made it hard for her to find perfect logic in what most found perfectly logical, especially when it came to plants.<p>

The fact Rin would agree to study sessions every two or three days with Shiemi wasn't surprising, Shiemi's enthusiasm and smiles were hard to resist, but seeing his older twin stick to those study sessions was somewhat surprising to him. Even more surprising initially was Shiemi's ability to decide when to take a break or end the session before his older twin really started getting too antsy to keep going and her habit of always wind up coming over for a study session whenever he was scheduled to go out on a mission. The young exorcist decided it was something he best not dwell on too much and that looking a gift horse in the mouth was something he'd rather not do.

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><p>Rin was torn. On one hand, he wanted to try and get his brother to let him follow him out on the mission he had to go on, but on the other Shiemi was coming over for a quick study session for the quiz they were having tomorrow. While he was anxious to get out and do something he also was loath to to disappoint his friend by missing the study session. None the less he felt he at least had to give at least a token attempt to come along.<p>

"Are you _sure_ I can't come along," he pleaded.

"Yes, I'm sure," Yukio told him sternly. "And I know you have studying to do anyway, brother."

"Spoilsport," Rin pouted.

Yukio sighed and adjusted his glasses. Oh, how he wished he could make it just once without Rin even making some level of an attempt to try to convince him to let him tag along. "Anyway, Shiemi should be here very soon. I may even see her on my way out now. Now, please try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

Rin made an annoyed sound of agreement, his tail flicking in agitation at how his younger twin was treating him like a little kid, yet again. Slumping down on a chair he frowned, muttering grumpily and his tail lashing in agitation as he was left alone with nothing to keep himself focused on other than how his younger twin treated him that way far too frequently for his liking.

He was startled from his grumblings as he suddenly heard a knock. "Rin, Yuki told me to just come in..."

He leaped up from the chair so fast it almost fell over and rushed to the door to the room, opening it wide. "Shiemi! Come on in!" he grinned. She was so proper sometimes even he could figure she'd want to be invited in properly even if told she could come right on in.

Shiemi smiled back and nodded politely as she entered. She loved seeing Rin look so enthusiastic when she came over to study with him. She watched him as he led her in past the doorway and further into the room, seeing everything from his warm smile to the set of his tail.

He flopped down into a sitting position in the middle of the room and patted the space in front of him. "Well, let's get this started!"

She sat down carefully in front of him and got out the first set of flashcards. As they went through the desk a few times to make sure they'd gotten as much down pat as possible they chatted a bit about this and that. A lot of it was pointless stuff such as Shiemi talking about the plants she'd been tending in her garden and Rin chattering on about different dishes he wanted to try making sometime, but Rin was more than glad for it, as it made the whole studying thing seem less tedious.

As they finished with that deck finally Shiemi got out the next and froze, staring at it, a troubled expression on her face.

"Shiemi?" Rin asked, concerned.

"I, I'm sorry..." she tried not to stutter. "I... brought the wrong flashcards..."

Rin looked at her, seeing her look like she could almost start crying because of that simple mistake. His mind raced trying to think of what to say, his tail straight out and unmoving behind him. "Don't worry..." he started. "I've got the textbook for this subject somewhere. We can use that instead..."

"But, but you seem to do much better when you use the flashcards I make..." she said, hiccuping slightly. "I.. I want to make sure you do well because..." she sniffled. "Because I worry about you."

Rin blinked in embarrassment and confusion at that confession. "Silly!" he blurted. "There's no reason you need to worry about me!"

"Rin!" she said, her face turning stern. "It's no secret what those in charge of the Order think of you and that if you don't do well enough they may decide you're not worth the risk and... and..." She sniffed as the thought of what could happen to him in that situation made her start to tear up with worry. "I don't want to see something like that happen to someone I really like..."

Shiemi took a breath and watched him, noticing his tail nervously twitching back and forth and a slight blush on his face. While she watched he was thinking about what she'd just said, trying to process everything it meant. And most of all trying to figure out what exactly 'really like' meant. Just thinking about it made him blush even more and hope, just a little, that it meant what he wanted it to mean.

Meanwhile it dawned on Shiemi exactly what she said. Her face turned red and she looked away embarrassed at how candid she had just been. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, not sure what to say then finally tried to start stammering out an apology for being so blunt.

"Shiemi," Rin said firmly, leaning forward slightly, still blushing slightly. His tail was swishing low behind him with anxious uncertainty. "'Someone you _really like_...' what exactly does that mean..."

As their eyes met and held she blushed even more. "I mean I really care about you and... and I really like you enough that... that if anything happened to you I'd... I'd..." She looked down, tearing up again, her emotions apparent.

Rin sat there nervously, not quite sure how to react. Taking a deep breath and silently thanking the fact it was just the two of them there he leaned forward a little more and reached out, placing his hand on her arm. "Shiemi," he started awkwardly. "I... really like you, too. And I'm not gonna let anything happen to me. Even if I have to show them in my own way, somehow I'll find a way to show them I'm on the same side they're on."

Shiemi looked at him again, seeing a mix of awkward embarrassment and concern on his face, and she'd heard the seriousness that had crept into his words, no matter how uncertainly they'd started. "Really?" she asked.

"Really," he answered. Before he knew it she had him in a happy embrace. It wasn't the first time she'd hugged him, but he still blushed at her wholehearted way of expressing herself like that.

"You like me too..." she said softly.

"Really like you," he corrected while putting one arm around her, not even realizing his tail had already moved to do the same. "Now we've got some more studying to do, don't we? Flashcards or no flashcards."

"Right!" she grinned while he started looking for what he did with the necessary workbook.

While digging for it a thought occurred to him. "You know, Shiemi, we never did get a chance to go back to the amusement park like we said we would..."

"We didn't, did we? With everything that's happened we never really got a chance to."

"Maybe we could go sometime soon," he suggested, blushing as he worked up the courage to say the next part. "We could make a date out of it..."

"Would they let you go out for something like that?" she asked.

"I can probably get Yukio to agree to it if I mention my grades going up," he reasoned. "And if we also get Shura to come along and help keep an eye on me she may keep Yukio distracted. Yes! I found the book!"

"If you can then I'd love to," she smiled shyly at him, watching his tail swishing merrily and looking at the huge grin on his face. She was sure she could be the happiest girl in the world if she could just keep giving him a reason to be that happy.

"All right. Now that that's settled we can get back to studying," he said, sitting next to her and opening up the book.

* * *

><p>Yukio had arrived back at the dorm a bit later than he expected. He walked in to the room expecting to see only Rin there, the study session long since over as his older brother's short attention span caused it to end far sooner than Yukio would like. To his surprise he saw his brother and Shiemi next to each other against the wall, a book open between them, and the two of them nodded off to sleep.<p>

He sighed, not knowing quite what to make of the scene, especially with how Rin's tail had worked its way around her waist with the tufted end slowly rising and falling in her lap. With a shrug he turned and left the room, deciding he'd get a bite to eat before he woke the two, and maybe try to figure out if he really wanted to know what went on while he was off on duty or not while he was at it.

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><p><strong>notes<strong>:  
>Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I'd started it a couple days after posting the last one but then hurt my wrist and had it stuck in a wrist brace for a few days (the damn pickle jar wouldn't open no matter what I tried and I got mad at it an assaulted it...), then I had a fibro flare that caused enough back pain I couldn't focus while writing, and then I had the bad luck to find out on top of all the other crap I've been going thru for the last year (canned from work for a BS reason, my mom passing away, an emotionally abusive ex-friend trying to use that as a reason to become friends with me again, and my fibromyalgia getting worse just to name a few of the things) my dog has cancer and has only months left to live.<p>

So, this is the final normal chapter of this fic. There will be an epilogue chapter after this, just a short little thing, but I'm hoping it comes out cute. I also have some very loose ideas for a companion work to this, too, but I'm not really sure how many of you actually want more RinShiemi fluff. And speaking of fluff, I had to pare this chapter down because the first version of it before I wound up putting it on hold for a bit was getting completely and totally overloaded with WAFF to the point I thought I was going to give myself cavities writing this. I even had to cut out one of the things I was setting up in this fic to de-WAFFify it a bit, which I will have to add to the companion fic if I do it. I do like me some WAFF, but it was getting a bit too much.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you'll like the epilogue for it when it's ready to go up.


	5. Epilogue: The Tail End

**Tale of a Tail**  
><em>Epilogue: The Tail End<em>

* * *

><p>The sky was clear and blue, the wind gentle, and the air pleasant – in short, it was a perfect day. As they set on a bench just inside the amusement park with an open map of the whole place they cheerfully talked about what rides they wanted to go on and tried to decide what to do first, both as happy as could be to finally make it there together and wanting to make the best of the day.<p>

As Rin deiced to try and talk Shiemi into trying out one of the roller coasters Yukio, who was standing a little ways away leaning against something, closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't help but think of the oddness of having to babysit one's older sibling while they were on a date and the annoyance of the help he was doing it. Shura was being loud, obnoxious, and occasionally offering him a drink from the opaque bottle she'd brought along, a drink he was pretty sure he was too young for.

As he heard Shiemi finally agree to try one of the roller coasters with his older twin he shook his head. Trust his twin to be the one who could get her to do that. He frowned as Shura once again tried to talk him into taking a drink, reminding him he should know staying hydrated was important in this kind of weather and calling him that annoying nickname she had for him.

Just to get her to shut up about it he grabbed it and took a big gulp, spitting most of it out as the strong taste of alcohol hit him hard. As he started to tell her off Rin and Shiemi looked at each other and stood up, Rin grabbing her hand as they ran off into the crowd smiling. By the time Yukio turned to look at the pair again they'd just vanished out of sight, causing Yukio to curse the woman's bad timing.

Rin and Shiemi smiled widely at each other, laughing. They were sure this would be one of the best days they'd ever have. It was their first date, after all, what more did they need to make it the best of days? As far as Rin and Shiemi were concerned it could have been raining and everything would have been just as perfect.

* * *

><p><strong>notes<strong>:

And with this, Tale of a Tail is done. It's been fun writing this and I hope those reading have enjoyed it. For those curious as to what if any music I was listening to while working on this, I was mostly listening to my playlist for this was mostly Maaya Sakamoto and Rie Fu music with a few songs by Nightwish, Epica, and Within Temptation tossed in as well as one track from the most recent Sonata Arctica album and both of the Genso Suikoden Arrange Collections.

Future fic plans include one I'm considering doing as a tribute to a late friend who wrote a rather amusing fic for another fandom that involved an interesting way of eating pickles, more RinShiemi fluff (which may or may not be smutty as well... it's been years since I wrote smut so I'm debating if I should try it or not), and a possible fic related to the pilot oneshot, The Miyama-Uguisu Mansion Incident (since NightMonaka is at least as adorable as RinShiemi, again, possible smut for this too). If anyone has any preference on which I start first feel free to let me know.

Also, ironically I had considered making the epilogue longer, but it didn't want to go past drabble length, whereas the first chapter was supposed to be a oneshot drabble and just kinda kept going. Alas, a writer is often at the mercy of their muse no matter what they want to do with their work.


End file.
